


The End to a New Beginning

by questionablydead



Series: The Cats [1]
Category: None - Fandom
Genre: Other, TW euthanasia, tw animal death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:00:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23996419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/questionablydead/pseuds/questionablydead
Summary: The life of my late cat, Cali, through her eyes.
Series: The Cats [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787671
Kudos: 2





	The End to a New Beginning

What is happening? Here, lying still on this cold table, that is all I can think. The sting of the wounds on my sides seemed to ebb away the longer I was here. The sad faces of my family stared down at me. It provided me with a deep sense of comfort, somehow, even though they were clearly incredibly upset.

Perhaps you are wondering what is happening to me at the moment. While I am not entirely certain, I do know one thing. I’ve spent my time here well, and now it is up. All I can do now is look back on my memories here with fondness. It all began on a spring day, ten years ago. I had been living with an older woman and her family. On that day, I had decided to wander over to the neighbor’s home. As soon as I got there, I was greeted by a small toddler with curly brown hair. She gurgled at her, a wobbly smile adorning her chubby face.  
“Kitty-cat!” She squeaked happily. Out of nowhere, she lurched forward and began to stroke me. Although she was rather rough in this process, it felt nice to have some affection. So, in response, I rubbed up against her leg and purred. 

“Hayden!” A voice called. A woman with pretty auburn hair came walking over. “There you are!” Jumping, I quickly skittered away from the toddler. As I ran, I could here the toddler babbling happily to her mother about meeting a “kitty-cat”. I huffed slightly, trotting inside to lay down for a nap. Perhaps I’ll visit again tomorrow. I thought, drifting off to sleep. 

Visit again the next day I did. In fact, I visited every day for weeks. One day, I awoke feeling sore, and I found it very hard to breathe. I padded over to my owner, meowing in hopes of getting her attention. Instead, I was ignored. Hanging my head, I walked over to her husband to try and get his help. Once I had made it over to him, however, I sneezed. That caused a burst of laughter to arise from him.  
“Hey! I’ve got a name for th’ cat now!” He turned his head to look at me, and laughed again. “Let’s call ‘er Snots!” Angrily, I darted out the cat door and ran over to the neighboring house. 

I found a bowl of food waiting for me, as well as a strange box. The man stood alongside it, and smiled at me. “Hey, Cali-kitty.” He murmured. Crouching down, he opened the front of the box up and beckoned me inside. Out of curiosity, I followed his command. He shut the door behind me. In alarm, I whipped around and began to yowl. “Shhh. It's alright.” The man said, attempting to soothe me by petting me through the holes in the door. Calming slightly, I laid down, wishing I could fall asleep.

The box was suddenly josled, and they were on the move. I swayed slightly, and then the box was placed on a surface. A loud slam rang out, startling me. The thing the box and I had been placed in lurched suddenly, and we were off. A while later, I was on a cold metal table, much like the one I tell you this story from now. I was taken into another room, and given something that made me very sleepy. When I finally awoke, I was at the neighbour’s house again. I was resting on a very comfortable, soft surface. I don’t think I’ll go home anytime soon. I thought, drifting off into a peaceful rest.

That was how I met my family. They were always so kind to me, and always fed me plenty and took care of me when I felt bad. Soon, my brother begun to show up as well. He and I romped around in the forest everyday. One day, though, he went out into the woods, telling me he was going alone. At the time, I hadn’t been worried, so I agreed to let him. I never saw him alive again. After that, some new cats came around. One that looked just like my brother, and Sissy. 

I hated Sissy in the beginning. I would chase her around, growl and hiss at her, and even attempt to claw her. Soon, though, her brother met the same fate as mine had on a warm summer night. I saw her differently, then. Less as an annoying little nuscience, and more as...someone like me. We bonded over our brothers, and almost never left each other's side from that point on. Even when the kittens, called Bill and Ted by our family, came in, we didn’t let that ruin us. Even though just looking at the two reminded us of the horrible fates both of our brothers met.

On a fateful day, perhaps a year later, the woman with auburn hair disappeared. Despite the efforts of the young girl, who’d grown so much since the times I had first come around, Sissy decided she wanted to leave. “I found a new family. I like them a lot, and things haven’t been the same since Auburn hair disappeared.” Then, she pressed her forehead to mine, and darted off into the woods. Before she could make it far, I lurched forward and hissed. “Coward.” I had said. “What if Auburn hair comes back? What then, huh? You’re abandoning your family, you traitor. What about the girl? She loves you. Your going to leave her to suffer through this alone? Just for some extra food and more attention?” She flinched. “I-” She started, but I cut her off with another hiss. “Save it. Just know, you have left the ones who love you most. Goodbye.” I whipped around, then ran off, back into my home.

I wish now that I could have apologized to her. I regret not doing so when I had the chance to, because there was no apologizing now. Anyways, after she’d left, and Auburn hair had finally come back, things changed, and not for the better. The house was always quiet nowadays. My family had gotten rid of the mutt recently. He had a habit of making everything noisy. Strangely, though, it felt empty without his obnoxious noises. The other cats, Bill and Ted, were always quiet now. All they liked to do was lay with Auburn hair and Blackbeard. Ted and I began to antagonize each other less, although it didn’t last long. Thankfully, not much did.

Months later, I had developed a strange wound on my left side. My family took me to the carer, and I took some sort of liquid every day for a week. It didn’t help much. Soon, more and more of these wounds developed. I was constantly in pain, and it was so difficult to even move without it. I started staying in the house more, and I almost never was up and about. I didn’t even like to hunt anymore. Not even the little lizards that were always skittering through the grass in the summer. It made me miss the days where I was in good enough health to easily catch even the fastest rabbits. There was no more chase or play fights with Ted, calming grooming sessions with Bill, or just walking around enjoying the outside.

In my final few months at home, I watched as the two boys got injury after injury, yet always healed. Why won’t mine do that? I had wondered. All mine do is ache and make moving hard. Bill had gotten a wound that looked just like the early stages of all of mine, but it healed eventually. All he seemed to be upset about was the fact that the Carer had shaved the part of the tail where his wound had been. When he complained about it, all I did was laugh. Try having your entire sides shaved everytime our family takes me to the Carers. Try getting your wounds poked and prodded at every. single. time. I thought. 

My final weeks at home were even more eventful. Ted came in wailing one day, and was complaining about his paw being “broken”. After he went to the Carer, all he wanted was to go back outside. “Stupid cat.” I’d said to him. “Just let them care for you. It will help. Perhaps you should take this as a lesson, hmm? For example, we could say, Ted should know he’s now a squirrel and keep from attempting to climb trees.” Ted had gotten very huffy about that. “I didn’t do that!” He’d exclaimed. I only smiled and went back to sleep.

A few nights ago, I finally got a moment alone with the girl. I lied down on her stomach and felt her begin to pet me lightly, carefully avoiding my wounds. We stayed there awhile, her just gazing at my face as she silently pet me. I just sat there enjoying the moment with her. Then, she’d carefully moved me onto a blanket and told me she loved me, after which she walked out of the room. This morning, I saw her off to wherever she goes during the week as I always do. Something felt… different. Like this was the last time I’d see her. It was.

The two members of my family that remained at home after the girl left had gotten out the Carer box. I’d assumed that they were taking Ted back for a reinspection. They weren’t. Instead, Blackbeard picked me up and cautiously shuffled me into the box. I was carried outside, placed down, and then we began our journey to the Carers. It took a much shorter time, however. When we got there, I realized this was a different Carer place. It was all the same to me, though. Same methodic poking and prodding. A deep voiced Carer said something quietly to Auburn hair and Blackbeard, and I heard Auburn hair burst into sobs. Blackbeard sat in silence for a minute, then said some things I didn’t quite register at the time. My sides throbbed furiously, and I longed to attempt to clean them. The Carer left the room, and I was suddenly scooped into the arms of Auburn hair.

She started petting me, and I purred loudly, desperately attempting to soothe her cries. She vaguely reminded me of a kitten crying for its mother, but it was different in some way. It was so...melancholy sounding. Her cries continued to shake my body. We were interrupted by the Carer coming back in. Auburn hair reluctantly passed me over to him, and then all four of us moved to a new room. I was laid down on a table, and given something that made me very, very sleepy.

That brings us to now. Staring at the distraught faces of the two brings me a wave of sadness. Hear the two quietly say something that sounds a lot like, “Goodbye, Cali. We love you so much. Rest well.” Does that mean I’m going to die? I was about to jump up and try and run, but I was too tired to move. I began to purr quietly, calming myself down. Perhaps that's ok. I thought. I faintly felt a soft prick in my leg. Goodbye, dear family. I will miss all of you. I groggily thought.

I’m sorry Sissy, Ted, Bill. I never got to apologize for being so awful to you in your kitten years. Goodbye, girl. Thank you for your affection from the very beginning. You’ve grown to be a fine young human. I’ll miss you, as well as your friends. Shifting my gaze from my family to the direction of the sky, my vision began to blur. Everything began to slowly fade, and I couldn’t think anymore. Taking in a shuddering breath, I watched everything fade to black. With that, I let the breath, and all that came with my life, go. I’m coming home, brother.

Tribute:

This is a story dedicated to my late dear cat, Cali. She lived a long, happy life alongside my family and me ever since 2008. She was laid to rest on March 2nd, 2020. She is now free of her suffering at the hands of an untreatable infection. She will be dearly missed.  
Sincerely,  
questionablydead


End file.
